The Crenshaw High School exit exam crisis or lack thereof is more about African American accountability than it is about passing a test to graduate from high school.

While I sympathize with the students and their parents for not meeting the criteria for graduation, it is time that we establish a higher standard for ourselves than one that has been set by the school district.

I understand the importance of going to proms and attending other functions that are associated with being a senior in high school, but on the larger scale of life education is about much more than that.

This is not a time for finger pointing and just blaming our children, or the administrators at Crenshaw or the school district.

We as parents need to be more involved in our children’s educational process and students as growing teenagers need to be more concerned about their academic studies than extra curricula activities that will not benefit them in the long run.

I applaud the community for getting behind the students, but we need to be more active from the get go than reactive when the graduation is just one week away.

This exit exam is similar to the SAT. Students know going into the high school that they have college aspirations, but they don’t begin studying the SAT until the final year they know a college is interested in them.

Students need to recognize they are going to school to prepare for life and parents should make sure they are managing their time wisely.

If you are in school then your report card is your paycheck. It has your name on it and the grades reflect the quality of your work.

If you want to get your money–then get your grades!

Prepare to plan and plan to prepare. For the first time in the history of our nation we have a President who believes that education must come first.

Now it is up to all of us to make sure that it comes first and foremost. You can do it if you put your mind to it.